A Meister and Her Weapon
by Tripoqgirl
Summary: Soul and Maka have always looked out for each other. But when Maka is seriously injured protecting Soul and it falls to him to take care of her as she's recovering, they'll both have to admit their feelings to each other.
1. A Meister Protecting Her Weapon

"We need to resonate. Now!"

Maka looked up at Soul. His blade was dripping blood. "No, we can't. You'll never survive it."

One of the Mantis's blades came towards her, but instead of countering, Maka ducked away. She was afraid of what would happen if she used Soul to block again.

"I'll be fine. Come on, we need to hurry!"

Knowing she had no other choice, Maka gave in. "Fine."

"Soul resonate, let's go!"

Mantis was faster than she'd realized. He slashed at her before she could do Witch Hunter, breaking her concentration. She barely avoided the attack. And another slash was coming. She knew it wouldn't miss this time.

"Maka, use me to block!"

"No." She threw Soul away from her, her body taking the slice of the Mantis's blades. The last time she had refused to let him block he had transformed in front of her so that he would be hit. She wouldn't let that happen again.

Soul transformed midair, lunging for Maka. But it was too late, she had already been hit. He transformed his arm into a blade and blocked Mantis from finishing her off.

Blocking hurt like hell, but he wasn't going to let Mantis hurt Maka again. He attacked again and again, but it wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough without a meister. He could feel himself weakening, and he knew he couldn't last much longer.

"If you let me help, you can defeat the Mantis. We both know she'll die if you don't get help for her soon."

Soul grimaced. That damn devil. "No, last time you nearly took over."

"I guess you don't care about her so much, then. Oh, well, I guess she'll die."

He knew the demon was right. "Fine."

The demon grew within him, filling him with black blood. Soul's power and speed increased immensely, and he gained the upper hand in his battle with Mantis.

After several more attacks, he was able to destroy Mantis. He left the corrupted soul where it was and ran to Maka. She was more important.

He gathered her in his arms, trying his best to staunch the blood flowing from her. He could barely feel her heartbeat.

"Maka, wake up! Please." He shook her. "Maka!"

The Black Blood was consuming him faster now, but he didn't have the will to push it back. He was too focused on Maka. He couldn't feel her heartbeat anymore, and she wasn't responding.

"Maka, please."

His soul was swallowed by the Black Blood. "Maka…"

* * *

Soul felt himself being surrounded by darkness until everything was black. The Black Blood's madness was engulfing his soul, but he wasn't fighting it. Maka was gone. He had failed. He didn't have the strength or the will to escape.

"Soul…"

He looked up. The voice was weak, but he could hear it. "Maka?"

"Soul…"

He saw a faint light in the distance, and began to struggle with the blood. He had to get to Maka. He tore free of the grip holding him there and rose to meet the light.

Maka was there, above the darkness, her soul flickering faintly. She reached out to him, and he grasped her hand. She pulled him up slowly, collapsing into him as he emerged. She had managed to save him, but her soul was fading faster now, losing it's light.

* * *

Free of the Black blood, Soul pulled off his jacket, wrapping it tightly around her. The blood wasn't coming as fast now, but her wound still needed to be bound. He checked for a pulse, and found it, relief flooding through him. He reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out her mirror.

"42-42-564"

Lord Death appeared in the mirror. "Hey Soul, how you doin'?"

"Not good. Maka needs help. Fast. I don't know how much longer she'll last."

He pointed the mirror towards Maka.

"That looks serious. I'll send Professor Stein immediately."

"Okay, I'll head towards the academy so that he won't have to travel as far. She needs attention as soon as possible."

"Good thinking, Soul. I'll see you two later. Good luck!"

Lord Death's image faded from the mirror, and Soul put it back in Maka's coat.

"Professor Stein is on his way. Hang in there, okay?"

He pulled Maka onto his back and started to walk as fast as he could towards the academy. He wasn't going to let Maka die now.


	2. A Nightmare in Which a Weapon Dies

Soul paced outside the door. Professor Stein was giving Maka a surgery, and he wasn't allowed to go in. Stein has said Maka would be fine, but Soul was still worried. He'd been waiting outside for what felt like hours, and Maka was still in there.

She had taken the blow instead of using him to block, then had saved him from being consumed by the black blood. he owed her his life and his sanity. He had to know if she was okay as soon as possible.

The door opened and Soul looked up at Professor Stein.

"She'll be okay, she just needs time to recover. You can go in and visit, just don't expect too much. She'll probably remain unconscious for a while."

Soul nodded and went into the room, sitting down in a chair by Maka. He smiled. She was going to be okay.

* * *

Maka threw Soul away from herself so that he wouldn't be hit by the blades, but he transformed in front of her, the blades slicing into him instead of her.

He collapsed and she pressed her hands against his wound, trying to get the blood to stop gushing out of him. His blood turned black and began to cover him, some of it turning into blades that dug into his flesh. The blood started to drag him into the Earth. She pulled at the blades of his blood, but only cut herself. He was being pulled into darkness and she couldn't pull him out.

She grasped at his hands but she couldn't reach him anymore. He was too deep, and the Earth was closing around him. She clawed at it, screaming his name, begging him to come back.

"Soul! Soul! Come back! No, don't leave! Soul!"

* * *

Soul grasped at Maka's flailing arms, trying to wake her from her nightmare. "Maka, wake up! Whatever you're seeing it's not real! I'm right here!"

She woke up at the sound of his voice, still panicked. "Soul! You were being dragged under, and you were hurt!"

"It was just a nightmare. I'm fine, see? You're the one who got hurt, but your okay now."

Maka looked down at herself. Her torso was wrapped in bandages. She tugged at them, wanting to see the damage.

Soul pulled her hand away. "Don't mess with them. You want to heal properly, don't you?... I can tell you what the damage was. Mantis cut across your chest from your upper left ribs to your right hip. Professor Stein patched you up."

"But. If I was hurt, how did you defeat Mantis?"

"That damn demon convinced me to use the black blood. I defeated the Mantis, but afterwards I was almost taken over by the Blood. Your soul saved me."

"I don't remember that. I must have already been unconscious."

Soul looked down at their entwined hands, remembering how limp and lifeless Maka had been when she'd been injured. "Don't ignore my help again. It's my job to protect you. I will always be willing to do it. You are my meister."

"No, it's more than that, isn't it?"

Soul looked away. "You should get some sleep. You need to recover."

He started to get up, but she didn't let go of his hand. "Can you...can you stay? I don't want to have that nightmare again."

He sat back down. "Of course."


	3. A Weapon Warding Off Nightmares

After a few days Maka was allowed to leave the hospital. She was still recovering, so she was excused from classes, and Soul was taking care of her so he was excused as well. Maka was recovering well, but she kept having the nightmare.

On her first night home she had the nightmare again. Soul heard her screaming in her sleep and ran to her room. He shook her awake like before and calmed her down.

"Maka, I'm right here. I'm fine."

She gripped his arms tightly, unable to stop herself from crying. "I hate this nightmare. It always feels so real. I'm afraid that if I go back to sleep I'll have it again, and losing you is too horrible, even if it is just a dream."

Unable to think of a better solution, Soul pulled back her covers and climbed into her bed, wrapping his arms around her. "I'll be right here if you have the nightmare again. I'm not going anywhere. Now go back to sleep."

Maka held on to him, the dream still vivid in her head. She fought back sleep, fearing the nightmare, but she was too tired to resist for long.

Soul felt Maka's grip loosen as she drifted back to sleep and he closed his eyes. His arms were still wrapped around Maka, but he didn't move them. He didn't want to wake her up, and the embrace was actually quite pleasant.

"Good night, Maka."

* * *

Maka opened her eyes. She hadn't had any nightmares after Soul had come into her room. His presence must have helped. His arms were still around her, and she could feel his chest rising and falling with his breathing against her back.

She snuggled closer to him. "You dork, you stayed all night. …I love you, you know."

"Did it really take you that long to figure it out?"

Maka stiffened, her face flushing red with embarrassment. She hadn't realized Soul was awake.

"Figure out what?" She stammered, hoping he hadn't heard her correctly.

"That you love me."

He turned her towards him. "I've known for a while."

"What!? No! I didn't… I meant-"

But she didn't get to finish her sentence. His lips against hers cut her off.

She would've Maka Chopped him, but she found that she wanted to kiss back, and besides, she didn't want to get up to get a book when she was so comfortable.

She broke away and tapped him on the head with her finger. "Maka …chop" she whispered into his lips. He laughed and pulled her closer.

"No book this time? You must be in a really good mood."

"Oh, shut up."

She kissed him, and with his arms around her and his lips against hers, she felt a connection to him that went beyond their embrace. It was like soul resonance, but sweeter.


End file.
